Did You Know…

Our competitors have to pay rent to 3rd party data centers to be able to provide service to your company?

We don’t! We own our cloud.

We own and operate our data center facility. We made the major investments necessary to house all of our systems in our tier-3 cloud computing data center. This world-class data center allows us to provide an unprecedented level of support, customization and performance for your company without being constrained by a 3rd party co-location facility.

World Class Data Center

Early in the history of our company, once we had decided to offer our systems using a SaaS (Software as a Service) model, we made the business decision to build and own our Tier 3 hosting facility rather that “rent” space in a commercial co-location hosting facility. While this may sound expensive (it is!) it provides us with the ability to go above and beyond for our clients to offer services that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive in a co-location environment. Our team maintains all hardware in our data center, allowing us to repair any issue much faster than would be possible in a co-location environment.

Our facility is a state-of-the-art raised floor environment, equipped with Dell PowerEdge servers, a Cisco network backbone, self-healing network switching, redundant cooling and power generation. Internet connectivity is provided through dual fiber optic connections from two separate vendors, with either fiber connection able to assume the full load of the data center at any time. All network systems are fully redundant with fully automated switchover in the event of a failure.

The data-center is fully equipped with backup power generation capabilities rated to run 24 X 7 X 365. In the event of a power failure, our UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) assumes full-load of our data center while the generator fires up, which then takes over the load. This ensures a seamless continuation of service for all of our clients in the unlikely event of a power failure.

PCI Compliance

All of our systems are fully PCI /DSS Compliant per the standards set forth by the PCI Security Standards Council (pcisecuritystandards.org). Our systems and data center are audited on-site annually by Specialized Security Services (“S3”), a PCI Security Standards Council certified QSA (Qualified Security Assessor). The SAQ-D audits they perform on our systems include source code analysis, networking, and systems analysis as well as physical security of the premises. As part of their audit, their staff performs internal and external penetration testing to ensure the robustness and hardening of our network against intruders.

Quarterly external vulnerability scans to validate adherence with the external scanning requirements of PCI/DSS are performed by an S3 as well, an ASV (Approved Scanning Vendor) against all websites hosted on our servers. Our PCI/DSS certificates are on file and are available for our clients to use to meet their PCI/DSS requirements.

Don’t be fooled by others who claim to be PCI Compliant but do not have an audit performed by an external QSA and ASV! In the event of a data breach, you must make sure you are protected by ensuring that your data is protected at the highest level possible. If your current vendor is not properly PCI Compliant, YOU could be liable for the breach!

Dedicated Servers Available

As your company begins to grow, your need for higher performance and capacity for your system will grow as well. We offer true (not “virtual”) dedicated server platforms hosted in our datacenter when you are ready to move to the next level.

A dedicated server package will include 3 new physical Dell servers (web, database, and terminal services) along with required networking and connectivity, all software licenses required as well as 5 administrative logins. The servers will be installed in the rack in our data-center and will be for the exclusive use of your company. Our team will take care of all maintenance requirements (hardware and software) to ensure that your system is always running at its peak performance level.

Our dedicated server platform is truly a “one-stop” shop. Our support personnel will be available 24/7 to address any potential issues that may come up. If the issue is within our control, we fix it. Period! Having your dedicated servers in our data center allows us to provide the coverage of standby servers in the event of a failure. If your server goes down, we will simply move you to one of our hot standby servers and have you back up quickly and efficiently so you can continue to conduct business while our team works on the failed server to repair the issue. This approach will minimize downtime in the rare event of a hardware failure. Once your server has been repaired and fully restored to service, our team will move your company back onto your original server.

Physical Servers

When choosing to place your Firestorm® system on a dedicated server platform in our self-owned hosting facility, you can rest assured that your system will be running on an actual physical dedicated server that will not be shared by any other company. We do not use virtual servers. Our servers are all state of the art, with advanced generation processors, large amounts of memory, high-speed hard drives, and fully redundant connectivity to the internet.

Full Hardware and Software Support

Your servers will be maintained by our staff of experts to ensure proper operation with the Firestorm® system. Our technicians will be responsible for all operating system, SQL Server, Networking, Hardware, Software, Firewall or Firestorm® issues that may arise during day to day operations. No matter what the issue is, one phone call is all you need to make to have any issue resolved that is within our control.

Increased Performance

As your company grows and matures, the need for more and more capacity and performance will become evident. By having the full power of multiple servers at your disposal, your company will no longer be constrained by having to share hardware with other companies. The full power of your server will be available to your company, all of the time. Your servers will be used by no-one else. The enhanced performance available on a dedicated server is only limited by the servers themselves. When making the decision to use dedicated servers, your sales representative will discuss your current needs with you and your plans for the future so the choice of server capacity and configuration can be made correctly.

Full API Access

When a company needs the advanced capabilities that full access to the Firestorm® API can provide, then being on our dedicated server platform is the only way to go! Your developers and administrative personnel will be granted a much higher level of access to the system, allowing your developers to create their own interfaces to our system by using the Firestorm® API.

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As needs vary according to necessity, so does pricing. Please contact one of our sales representatives for more information. Dedicated server fees are an additional monthly cost.